Not all proteins are created equal: Finding solution in translational control

Abstract:
Protein synthesis is an indispensable process which accounts for a large proportion of the energetic resources of any living cells. Therefore, translational regulation must be tightly controlled. Such regulation is critical for protein biogenesis, folding, trafficking and degradation under stable and changing conditions. I will focus on the importance of hidden evolutionary signatures within the coding region of proteins that govern translational efficiency and dominate proteostasis in health and disease. I will discuss the notion of tRNA adaptation index (tAI) as an indirect measure for translation elongation efficiency. Specifically, I will show that proteins which must be localized to specific sites and organelles in cells evolved to support their optimal translation elongation rate. A link between an evolutionary signature within mRNAs and efficient management of protein production of synaptic proteins. As neuronal communication is governed by the coordinated action, proteins have an extreme demand for translational control. In the last part of the talk, I will extend the concept of translation regulation by illustrating the robustness of the translational machinery in view of post-translational regulation of miRNA in cells. I will present COMICS as a simulator that predict the global cell response to miRNA alterations in health and disease.

Bio:
Michal Linial is a Professor of Biochemistry and Bioinformatics of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI) and the Director of the Israeli Institute for Advance studies (IIAS) in Jerusalem (from 2012-2018). She served as the Director of the Sudarsky Center for Computational Biology at the Hebrew University and the head of Node for ELIXIR-IL. Prof. Linial obtained her Ph.D. in Molecular biology (1986) from the Hebrew University (HUJI). She then completed her post-doctoral training at Stanford, CA, on the field of cellular neurochemistry. On 1989 she joined the faculty of HUJI in the Biological Chemistry department. She is a founder (1999) and current chair of the honor educational program for Computational Biology in HUJI. She served as the director of the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies (2012-2018). ML is a former Vice-President of the International Society of Computational Biology (ISCB). Presently, she serves as the representative of Israel in the pan-European project of ELIXIR. ML has authored over 150 peer-reviewed papers and contributed to the development of bioinformatics databases and websites that are open to the large communities of the biomedical and Life science researchers. Her current research interests cover host-pathogen co-evolution, protein family evolution, miRNA mode of action. She applies large-scale technologies including next generation sequencing, genomics, GWAS, protein structure, mass spectrometry and evolution for revealing the different regulation levels cell in health and disease.